A note about the chapter name, found out the original proverb used care (as in worry or sorrow) instead of curiosity.

Lance's eyes snapped open. "It's a heartbeat."

"Heartbeat?"

"The pulsing. Watch the light. See? Bum-bum bum-bum bum-bum."

Keith watched the crystal for a moment. "I guess, but what does that mean?"

Lance shook his head. "What are you trying to tell us, Blue?"

A ripple of sadness then suddenly the cold was sinking into his hand and flooding through his body, making him gasp.

"Lance?" Keith asked, grabbing his shoulder.

The two armies, quodynce against aethsin.

A swirling golden portal.

Using the Voltron Ceremony on a fuchsia crystal. Being drawn in.

Organics surrounding four other pulsing crystals as well as their own: a violet spiral galaxy, a green vine, a yellow moon, a red star.

The two boys leapt apart, panting.

"Did you see that too?"

"Yeah, can Blue stop invading my mind?"

"No- I mean, yeah, Blue, a little warning next time, please? But what I mean is did you see that? I was right the crystals are, like, their figurative hearts, but literally! It is them!"

"Wouldn't a better comparison be their brain?"

"Never mind, it's not important," Lance said, turning to the door, which had slowly been closing behind them. He climbed through and said, "Grab Merla, come on!"

"Why? Where are you going now?" Keith said.

Lance waited until the shorter boy had picked up his cat before grabbing his arm and dragging him out of Blue. "Blue once told me that she was, like, a lot older than Altean civilization. I didn't really understand that until I saw all those Alteans standing around Blue's crystal. And that scene before."

Keith frowned at him, before his eyes widened. "The cats, they actually looked like cats, like this, before they were the lions. So if she looks like this again, then…"

"Maybe it's because something's wrong with her crystal."

"Let's hurry up then," Keith said and Lance found himself being dragged instead.

When they reached the Red Lion's hanger, they used their jetpacks to hop up on top of it's head. Lance opened the access hatch and waited for Keith to drop through then did the same. He turned the flashlight on on his gauntlet and looked around. The Red Lion's halls were shorter and narrower than the Blue's, but that made sense since she was so much smaller.

"Which way?"

Lance blinked. "Wh- It's your lion! Shouldn't you know the way!"

"Did you know how to get to Blue's crystal?"

Lance glared at him.

"Perhaps I could be some help?"

The two looked up as Coran's voice echoed in through the open hatch. Lance jumped up to see Coran standing in front of the Red Lion's jaw.

"Hey! What are you doing here?"

"We're almost ready to go. You never returned so I came to check on you both."

"Go?" Keith asked.

"Yeah, sorry Coran. I came down to explain to Keith and we kind of got distracted. We think we've found a way to save Merla, but we need to find this crystal inside the Red Lion."

"Big glowing red one?"

"That's it. Do you know how to reach it?"

Coran hummed and tapped his finger to his chin. "It's been a long time. Alfor and the alchemists never needed to check on the crystals. I don't think we even got around to automating the doors."

"Yeah, we had to pry open the door in Blue. We didn't even know there was a door."

"The crystals are vital to the lions' functionality. They-"

"Coran, no offense, but it's kind of time sensitive," Keith called out and Lance looked down to see most of Merla's tail was gone and one of her hind legs was starting to dissolve as well.

"Yeah, Coran, maybe we can have the lesson later. Do you remember where the crystal is?"

Coran hummed again and walked over to the control panel. "My memory's a little rusty, but I think I can guide you two to it… perhaps," he said, switching over to the comms.

"Alright Coran, lead the way," Lance said, dropping back down to Keith.

Despite a couple missteps, they reached the door quick enough.

"The door should be right beneath you now."

"We found it, Coran," Lance said, tracing the opening on the floor. "Thanks."

"Not a problem. I need to be heading back up. We're set to leave in just about two vargas."

"Right, I'll check in as soon as I can."

"Best of luck to the both of you. Let us know if there's anything else we can help with."

"Thanks Coran," Keith said as he set Merla down so he could help Lance.

"Oh and number four, I saw your glove had been damaged and had the castle make you a new one. It will be waiting for you out here."

"Oh," Keith said, glancing down at his hand. He'd forgotten about that. "Uh, thanks Coran."

Lance glanced down at Keith's hands, curious, but refocused as the door clicked open and they were able to pull it up to lean against the wall. Merla's crystal was smaller than Blue's only about as tall and wide as Hunk, maybe a touch bigger. In Blue's vision, the crystal had been completely clear, but pulsing crimson with a hollow inside in the shape of a diamond-like star design.

Now it was a dull, translucent black and completely solid.

"Now what?" Keith asked.

"I don't know. I was kind of hoping whatever was wrong would be obvious." Lance reached out for the crystal, only to feel a warning tug from Blue.

He saw Keith reaching out too.

"Wai-"

Keith's fingers brushed against the crystal and it darkened to a solid pitch black. He let out a scream as black electricity shot up his arm. His entire body spasmed, although his fingers stayed stuck to the crystal.

"Keith!" Lance shouted, grabbing Keith around his waist. As soon as they touched, he felt the lightning flash through him, but he ignored the pain and focused on throwing the two of them back from the crystal.

There was a half second where they were suspended, caught between their own weights and the force on Keith's hand, then they were falling.

Lance groaned as he sat up. He looked down at Keith to check on the Red Paladin, but couldn't see anything through the darkness. He tried to turn his flashlight on, but his armor didn't respond. "Keith is your armor working?"

There was silence for a few moments and Lance almost thought Keith was unconscious before he groaned and shivered. "No."

"Great." He looked around, but all he could see were small white lights flickering within the crystal. "You okay?"

"Well, I feel like Lieutenant What's-his-name had us just run his psycho suicide drill, minus the pleasant muscle burn, I-"

"Pleasant?"

"I'm pretty sure I just got electrocuted and my arm definitely feels like it was, and Merla's still sick. So no, I'm not okay."

"I meant do you feel really sick? Any intense pain or excessive bleeding? Are you not feeling something you should? Basically, are there any signs that we should get you to the infirmary right away?"

"I don't know. I don't think so?"

"That's… probably a good sign? Man, it would help if we could see."

"It's not that dark."

Lance sent an incredulous look to the boy half-laying on him, which went unnoticed in the darkness.

"Hold on."

Lance felt Keith start to shift and then a low white light washed over them. He blinked at the sudden light and looked over to see… "Is that a glow stick?"

Keith shrugged, then hissed.

Lance helped him sit up and used the light from the stick to look at Keith's hand. Thankfully he didn't see any burns. Though there were odd patches of color across his hand and wrist.

"I kept a bunch in my packs just in case my flashlight died while I was in the caves. So when we got here I stuck a few in the armor for emergency use. I put a couple in the cockpit too."

Lance snorted and started shifting Keith off his lap. "Okay, boy scout, get off me now."

Keith slipped off to lean against the wall with a huff that sounded half-yawn and half-growl. "I wasn't a… boy scout."

The Blue Paladin was briefly confused by the pause, but pushed it aside once he saw just how exhausted the red one looked. "Geez, what'd that thing do to you?"

Keith shook his head. They turned back to the crystal just in time to see the last of the lights disappear into the darkness before the crystal returned to its translucent state.

"Right, let's not touch that again, okay?"

Keith kicked him in the shin. "Now what?"

Lance glared at him. "Why do you keep asking me that?"

"This was your idea."

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't hurt you to come up with some of your own!"

Keith stared at the the crystal. Lance waited a moment before huffing and looking away from the boy. He stood up and stretched before stepping over to check on Merla.

"Maybe we could shock it?"

"What?" Lance asked, turning back to Keith.

"You said it's like a heart right? So maybe we should shock it like a doctor does when your heart stops."

"That's… You know they don't actually defibrillate stopped hearts right? That only happens in movies or tv. Didn't you take first aid?"

"Was planning on taking it later. Look, that doesn't matter. It's not an actual heart, so maybe it could work. Like jumpstarting a car."

Lance shrugged and turned to the crystal. "I guess. It's better than any idea I've got."

"Which is no idea."

Lance crossed his arms and growled, "Alright, hotshot, and how do you suppose we jumpstart a giant lion robot?"

"… We need Hunk."

Lance tried to reach them with his comms, but his armor was still dead. "I'm guessing your armor is still down too?"

Keith tapped at his gauntlet, then his helmet, before nodding.

"Great," Lance sighed. "I'll go get him." He stepped over Keith, but then frowned at the darkness in front of him. "On second thought, can I get one of those glow sticks?"

He looked away from Keith's smug face and looked around the area. He sent Merla a concerned glance as his eyes passed over her. He refocused on her, feeling like something was off. He watched her for a moment before he realized the energy crumbling off her wasn't just floating randomly away, but instead drifting off in one direction as it dissipated.

"Hey, Keith, look at Merla," Lance said as a blue light joined the white.

"What about her?" he asked, tilting to the side slightly.

Lance took the blue glow stick and held it over her. "Look at the lights - well they're not really lights I guess since they're not showing in the dark, but you get my point."

Keith stared for a few moments before his eyes widened. "She's being drawn into the crystal."

Lance glanced back at the star cat and realized the energy was floating towards the crystal. "Uh, yeah, exactly!"

"It's like in Blue's vision. Is that a good thing?"

"Well, she was in there before, right? That probably means she's supposed to be in there… Right?"

Keith shrugged. "We need to try something though. She keeps getting worse."

Lance nodded. Merla's tail was completely gone and her other hind leg had started to fade as well. "It's your decision. She's your cat. Either we try this or I go get Hunk using the castle's comms."

"That might take too long though. We have to try putting her in the crystal," Keith sighed.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

Lance nodded again before glancing between the cat and the slouching boy. "Are you going to be able to pick her up to put her in?"

Keith gave him a defiant look and rose to his feet, but even that left him panting and leaning against the wall.

"Right, I'll help you with her then."

"You can't touch her!" Keith snapped, going pale as he remembered what had happened in the Green Lion.

Lance remembered the same and held up his hands. "I'll keep my hands on yours. I won't lay a finger on her."

Keith bit his lip and nodded.

The two knelt on either side of the cat and Keith carefully lifted her up. Lance waited until she was high enough then slipped his hands under Keith's to support them. They slowly carried her towards the crystal then Lance helped Keith sit down before hopping over to the other side of the crystal. He sat down facing Keith then leaned over as far as he dared.

As they held Merla over the crystal, a bit of the energy managed to make it into the crystal and it darkened like it had when Keith had touched it. The white lights flickered inside the crystal, but didn't go out, which Lance took as a good sign. They lowered her down to the crystal, but just as one of her feet brushed it, she spasmed. Lance jumped, then tried to regain his balance. It was for naught though as his knuckles pressed into the crystal and dark lightning raced up his arms.

For a moment there was only pain.

Then there was red and blue and green and yellow and violet and maroon and fuschia, and there was a hanger, five hangers, and a hallway with him sitting in front of him, Keith, Lance, Merla, Chip, Ryou, Blue, Pua, no, wrong, why, stop, they can't b-

Lance's side suddenly slammed into a wall.

"Ow!" he groaned, sitting up. "Keith?"

The other boy groaned from where he was lying on the ground on the other side of the crystal, but otherwise didn't show any signs of consciousness. Lance looked around.

Then realized he could look around.

He slowly, but excitedly crawled over to the crystal's opening to see it once more looking like it had in Blue's vision, though now there were two smaller stars frozen in orbit around the larger, a small maroon one and a slightly larger green and fuschia one.

"Keith, it worked!" Lance cheered. A few moments of silence passed and he turned to the Red Paladin. "Keith?"

Lance reached over and shut the door to the red crystal before shuffling over to Keith's side. "Are you okay?" he asked, kneeling next to him and rolling him over. He pressed his fingers to Keith's neck and sighed when he felt a pulse and heard his breaths. "Alright, mullet, you just take a nap and I'll go find the others." He pushed himself to his feet and staggered away. He made it through the Red Lion, leaning heavily against the walls, until he reached her mouth.

"Lance?"

The Blue Paladin blinked and looked up to see a white and black blur approaching. "Whoa, space Panda!"

"Lance!"

Lance tried to step forwards, only to collapse, panting. The space panda rushed over to his side and he realized the panda was actually Shiro. "Oh, hey Shiro."

"Lance, what's wrong?"

"Just a bit tired. We fixed Merla though. She's all better I think."

"I can see that. Now it's you I'm worried about. You look exhausted. Where's Keith?"

"He's sleeping, the lazy butt. I'm fine though."

"Hunk, get down here. Something's wrong with Lance and Keith. Coran, can you meet us in the infirmary? Thank you. Lance, where's Keith exactly?"

"Inside," Lance said, waving towards the lion. "What's going on? I thought we were going to save Allura?"

"We can't do anything if two of our paladins are dead on their feet. What happened Lance?"

"We were putting Merla in the crystal and then my fingers touched it and everything turned into Wonderland and the lightning made me tired."

"Shiro, what's going on? What's wrong with him?"

Lance turned and smiled as he saw Hunk run up. "Hey buddy!"

"I don't know. He's not making sense. Can you go into the Red Lion and get Keith. I'll take Lance to the infirmary."

"Right."

"I'm fine," Lance huffed as Shiro picked him up over his shoulder. "What not even a princess carry? Am I not good enough for a princess carry? I bet you'd give Allura a princess carry. Cradle her in your buff arms."

"Lance, please just stop talking," Shiro snorted. "Maybe focus on trying to give me a coherent explanation of what happened to you guys."

"I told you, we were putting Merla in the crystal a-"

"What crystal?"

"The big one all the lions got. It's like their heart, basically. Keith said it's their brain really, but whatever. You get what I mean right? It's them! Like everything that makes them them!"

"Like their soul?"

"Yeah, I think so. They're inside there, or at least they're supposed to be. Merla wasn't and that's why everyone was sick. So we put her back in there, but my fingers touched the crystal and everything turned to Wonderland."

"Wonderland?"

"Like Alice. The Mad Hatter. Up is down and words are colors and nothing… Um…"

"Nothing made sense?"

"Right. And now I'm tired. I think I got pulled in like Merla. Keith too. And now we're tired."

"So this crystal drained you both of energy?"

"My head hurts."

Shiro groaned and then Lance was upright. "That would have been good to know earlier."

Lance shrugged. "You didn't ask."

"I asked you what was wrong."

"Oh. Why are Altean lights so weird?"

"They're alien."

Lance turned to Shiro with wide eyes. "Oh my god."

"What happened?"

"Yeah, Lance looks like I did that time I stayed up nearly three days straight binging Merlin."

"Did you just…"

"I don't know. Lance said something about a crystal, but he's not exactly lucid right now."

Lance put his hands on either side of Shiro's face and whispered, "Do it again!"

"See."

"Right, place him in a pod and we'll see what we're working with."

Shiro turned and Lance's eyes widened as he saw Keith draped over Hunk's arms. "How come Mullet gets a princess carry?"

"Guys, Keith's breathing, but his pulse is weak and he's completely unresponsive."

"Place him in a pod, quick. Whatever's happened to them must be affecting him worse."

Lance felt himself being set down and slid down onto his side. A nap sounded good right now. Especially if Keith was getting one.

"Hey, Lance, Stay awa-"